MS student Alison Rollins receives Poetry Foundation fellowship

Alison Rollins

Master's student Alison C. Rollins is one of five recipients of a 2016 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship. Awarded by the Poetry Foundation, the fellowship is one of the largest awards offered to young poets between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-one in the United States. The $25,800 prize is intended to encourage the further study and writing of poetry.

"The fellowship [is] a validation of my work as an artist, as a poet, as a creative person. Because I'm in school for library and information science and because I work full time as a librarian, this fellowship allows me . . . a certain amount of notoriety in terms of my creative work and poetry outside of my academic studies [and] formal career. I'm really excited also to be open to a new network of other poets," Rollins said.

Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Poetry, River Styx, Vinyl, and elsewhere. In addition to the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship, she won second prize in the 2016 James H. Nash Poetry Contest and is a Cave Canem Foundation 2016 Retreat Fellow. Rollins is a librarian at Nerinx Hall High School in Webster Groves, Missouri.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

iSchool researchers to present at CHI 2025

iSchool faculty and students will present their research at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2025), which will be held from April 26 to May 1 in Yokohama, Japan. 

Kemboi receives the Research and Advocacy Social Justice Award

PhD student Gladys Kemboi has received the 2025 Research and Advocacy Social Justice Award from the Office of Diversity & Social Justice Education in the Office of Student Affairs. She was presented with the award at the Social Justice Awards Ceremony, which was held on April 8 in the Illini Union. The annual event honors and celebrates the work and dedication of University of Illinois community members seeking to create a more inclusive and equitable campus.

Gladys Kemboi

Garnes receives Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement

Carolyn L. Garnes (MSLIS '72) has received the 2025 Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Library Association (ALA). The annual award, named in honor of award-winning children's book author Virginia Hamilton, is presented in odd years "to a practitioner for substantial contributions through active engagement with youth using award-winning African American literature for children and/or young adults, via implementation of reading and reading-related activities/programs."

Carolyn L. Garnes

Undergraduate Research Symposium features iSchool students and mentors

Several iSchool undergraduate students will participate in the 18th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. During the event, visitors will learn about undergraduate research projects through oral and poster presentations, creative performances, and art exhibits. All are welcome to attend the symposium, which will be held on April 24 from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. in the Illini Rooms and South Lounge of the Illini Union. Oral presentations will be held on the second floor of the Illini Union.